Antennarius multiocellatus
Longlure Frogfish
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Antennariidae (Frogfishes)
Antennarius
Antennarius multiocellatus (Longlure Frogfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (Carpenter, K.E. (ed.) 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. FAO, Rome.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. Illicium about twice as long as second dorsal spine (Ref. 26938).
Distribution
3 cm SL. Tropical and subtropical
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 0-66 m.
Biology
To 11.
Inhabit shallow reefs (Ref. 9710). Commonly found in areas with sponges; background hue of the fish conforms to that of the dominant sponge in the areas and the ocelli look like openings in the sponge. Feed mainly on fishes, but also eat crustaceans (Ref. 13442). A voracious predator, with many color phases used for camouflage. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Eggs are bound in ribbon-like sheath or mass of gelatinous mucus called 'egg raft' or 'veil' (Ref. 6773). Most common frogfish in the West Indies (Ref. 26938).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (Fec assumed to be > 10,000).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial.
References
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Pietsch, T.W. and D.B. Grobecker (1987) Frogfishes of the world. Systematics, zoogeography, and behavioral ecology. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 420 p.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Comments On Antennarius multiocellatus